Viva Raw!

10-17-11  Raw-Down

Viva Raw!

Every once and a while it’s nice to not follow the e-rags or pay too close attention to where Raw is going to be for the week, allowing for one to be pleasantly surprised upon realization that it was in Mexico City, a first for Raw.  Having no prior knowledge of this, I was surprised to see the Mexican flag on either side of the Raw TV “banner” and thought that Alberto Del Rio was taking advantage of the chaos in management and orchestrating a hostile take over of sorts.  Finally, something “raw”  (yeah so what?) and divisive was going to be coming through my television and, more importantly, wrestling was going to be the medium.   Much to my dismay,  it turned out that Raw was simply showing respect to its host country…how boring!  “Entertainment” should convey a number of things to the viewer, and one of those things should be to instill a sense of pride in the “product” and, as of now, Raw is doing the opposite.  I am proud to be a wrestling fan, yet I ‘ll admit to a bit of sheepishness when revealing my “passion” to a colleague or client.   Why is this?  Because of the stigma involved?  I thought about this question all night and usually do this after an especially awful show, and came up with the following: I’m not ashamed to be a wrestling fan, I’m ashamed of putting my valuable time towards the “product.”  When the highlights of a show amount to 20 minutes of a whole 2 hour show, I’m going to regret putting the time into it.  It’s like spending 14 bucks to see a waste of a movie every week and yet still hoping that the next one will be worth your 14 dollars.  Last night’s Raw was a poor excuse for a show, leaving me bored out of my mind.  So much so that the “Psych” commercials were more interesting that what Raw had to offer…and that’s pretty bad.

Personalaurinitasy

So, now we are to believe that “Ace” has a personality?  He’s not just a bland corporate, power-hungry thug?  He has motive and reason all of which is tied to a personality?  What a relief!  It’s definitely a good thing you didn’t show this to us earlier or it would have tipped us off to him being…INTERESTING!  Did you withhold this information so as to create a “mystery” of sorts? Sorry to break the news to you, but we all knew it was Ace that was screwing over HHH, and if by some reason you decided to go with someone else, we still need him to have a personality other than what the rest of the roster feels or says about him. 

Ace fumbled verbally during his in-ring spot, and, as I’ve said before, I like it when the person in power is an idiot.  Especially when that someone is in stark contrast with the roster and the upper management, both of whom worked their way up the ranks.  Adamle is a the perfect example of this.  I feel that Ace should try and be as incompetent as he can be.  It will give the position more “flavor” because of his wrestling past and his newfound ability to be more corporate than corporate (something they should go for) and exploit his wrestling past by denying it and making the wrestlers feel so out of sync with the person in charge.  This dynamic will play extremely well for both sides and give him that sinister reality-bending psychology that villainous leaders need.

My kingdom for a real GM

Since last night’s RAW was so terrible, it got me to thinking about RAW GM’s.  The top two in my head are:

VKM – a classic.

Bischoff- well executed

There is someone on the roster that has potential and should be groomed to be the GM as soon as possible, that person is: MICHAEL COLE.  He was on top of his game last night and actually reminded me of VKM in many of his mannerism.  Get him out of the booth and into the role.  He is someone who is naturally “that” person, and his history would a rich tapestry to pull from, being that he has so much cred from being an announcer.  Sure he would have to work on being “fair”, at least in the beginning, but can’t you see him as a perfect blend of Bischoff and VKM?  Coming off as a Caesar-like character and making the wrestlers feel as though they are gladiators for his entertainment (and making the fans feel left out)?  God, this would be the best of both worlds.  Why can’t the WWE see this?  I would buy any merchandise Cole had out right now, as he is easily one of the most entertaining “characters” on the roster.  Let him be in charge (on TV) of the wrestlers, give the heels the role of getting him in the position, through all sorts of character building techniques (we’ve discussed in past blog posts), only to have Cole turn on everyone once he achieves his god-like status.  Don’t you remember how much heat he had as the voice of the lap-top GM?  Do it!  Give the guy whatever he wants to leave the booth and make the move.  It will help save the ratings and the stock.  To be completely honest, the WWE needs to be concerned with announcers jumping ship to ESPN.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater…

I will admit that the WWE did a really good thing with what had the potential of being a snoozefest, the 6-man tag match.  What started as a boring 6-man tag turned into good singles’ promos.  Cody and Orton exploding,  Sheamus and Christian heating up.  Jobber-JOMO getting crushed…oh wait, not that spot.

Who doesn’t like bacon…

Miz and R-truth were the only entertaining spots of the night.  They are the only two with personality that stands apart from the rest of the roster.  Their over-the-top-ness is refreshing and a throwback to the bad guys of old, guys like Piper, Hollywood Hogan, etc. heels with crazy eyes matching their intentions, big personalities to match the crowds appetite for excitement.  Right now, Miz is a fearless motor-mouth and Truth is crazy enough to pull stuff off, so I dub them the bacon of the WWE. 

The odd-odd couple

Not really digging the CM Punk/HHH best pals routine.  What does it accomplish?  If anything it waters down CM Punk’s change angle, as he’s too busy dealing with this dynamic.  I let this one play out a bit more before I pass judgment.

Latina World Order

Vickie G. rocked last night.  That is all.

Random

There’s a special place in hell for Cena haters who thought all those Mexican women in the crowd with Cena t-shirts were hot…

Zig Ziggler

When did Dolph start to refer to himself as “The Heel” or “The Show-STEALER?”  Clearly he is stealing something…

Along for the Ryde-r

We still seem to be getting a little Ryder “push”, unfortunately it’s at the expense of someone who needs a push themselves.  I like the fact he is getting TV time, we can’t deny the guy put in his “grind”…and now it’s paying off for him.  What I would like to see is for this comedic persona to play its course, leaving us with a clear path for a “serious” roster spot.  We all know these gimmick have a short shelf life, with Santino being the only one to have kept it going for so long (that and it was probably a good thing he was off TV for a bit).   I say we keep this run going for a few months and build it to a US Title or Intercontinental Title match with Ryder coming in as the underdog, with “heart,” who ends up getting crushed, and I mean stretcher-off-of-TV-for-3-months “crushed.”  He can then come back with an “edge” and the crowd on his side, from the beat-down, to finally capture said title, and see if the crowd accepts him.  I know I would at least give him a chance and feel that most fans would do the same. 

Random

Ricardo Rodriguez had the best quote of the night: (while announcing ADR to the crowd, translated) “He is a Mexican who is more Mexican than you!”  Brilliant.

Flat Finish

Are we really supposed to care that Cena went nuts and crushed ADR at the end of the match?  I don’t think so.  Displays such as this are the television equivalent of someone flexing their muscles in front of a mirror.  Who cares?  This didn’t make me want to watch the PPV (Cody Rhodes does).  Here’s an idea, why not have some of ADR’s old foes from the Mexican federations come out earlier in RAW and have them pretend to want to attack Alberto, later on in the show put them in as “lumberjacks” for the main event and then pull a swerve with ADR buying them off as they all pounce on Cena (well, really only ADR).  This would have made for an eventful night, something we all would have been talking about today, something the WWE has been lacking for quite some time now.

Until next week, Adios for now